Loading...- ORIGIN, MISSION & VISION
- CONCEPT
- ORGANIZATIONS
- PROGRAMS, FACULTY & ACADEMICS
- How much will it cost for a student to attend?
- Who are the faculty and how are they selected?
- What type of students are you looking for?
- What are the academic objectives of SU?
- How is SU different from existing universities?
- What is the purpose and scope of the Graduate Studies Program (GSP)?
- What is the purpose, size and scope of the 10-day Mid-Level program?
- Will SU be conducting research?
ORIGIN, MISSION & VISION
What is the origin of the SU?
The concept of the Singularity University was proposed by Dr. Peter Diamandis to Dr. Ray Kurzweil and his colleagues Drs. Robert D. Richards and Michael Simpson in mid-2007. An exploratory meeting was held in November 2007, followed by a Founding Meeting in September 2008.
Diamandis was inspired to apply the interdisciplinary, international and intercultural principles originally pioneered by the International Space University to the application of 21st century technologies and sciences to the grand challenges of our time.
What is the mission of SU?
Singularity University aims to assemble, educate and inspire a cadre of leaders who strive to understand and facilitate the development of exponentially advancing technologies and apply, focus and guide these tools to address humanity’s grand challenges.
What is the vision of SU?
A number of exponentially growing technologies (biotechnology, supercomputing, nanotechnology, robotics, communications technologies and more.) are giving tools for change around the world. These technologies and sciences build on each other: a medical advance may rely on supercomputers, robotics, and sophisticated programs such as machine learning. Singularity University is an academic institution whose students and faculty will study these technologies, with an emphasis on their interactions.
What is the ideal SU student?
- We are looking for students who are creative, intelligent and driven-for-excellence from around the world.
- Experts in one of the 10 track areas, and have a passion to learn about other tracks.
- They are proven leaders and entrepreneurs. We are looking for the next generation of CEOs, University Deans/Presidents and Government leaders.
- We are looking for internationalists: people who are bilingual or multilingual with a strong command of English (the language used to teach SU courses) and people who have traveled widely.
- They are interested in understanding and addressing the world’s grand challenges
What is your non-discrimination policy?
- Singularity University is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in education and employment. Consistent with its obligations under the law, the University admits students of either sex and any race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the University.
CONCEPT
What does “Singularity” stand for?
Singularity University derives its name from Dr. Ray Kurzweil’s book “The Singularity is Near.” The term “Singularity” has been used to refer to a future time of rapid and accelerating development of various sciences and technologies including biotechnology, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, robotics and genetics. One goal of Singularity University is to show how these rapid developments occur today, sometimes so common that we do not see them for what they are, as when a graphics card is faster than any supercomputer of just a decade ago.
ORGANIZATIONS
What is the International Space University (ISU) and what role will it play?
The International Space University (ISU) provides graduate-level training to the future leaders of the emerging global space community at its Central Campus in Strasbourg, France and at locations around the world. In its two-month Graduate Session and one-year Masters program, ISU offers its students a unique Core Curriculum covering all disciplines related to space programs and enterprises – space science, space engineering, systems engineering, space policy and law, business and management, and space and society. Both programs also involve intense Team Projects providing international graduate students and young space professionals the opportunity to solve complex problems by working together in an intercultural environment.
Since its founding in 1987, ISU has graduated more than 2500 students from 96 countries. Together with hundreds of ISU faculty and lecturers from around the world, ISU alumni comprise an extremely effective network of space professionals and leaders that actively facilitates individual career growth, professional activities and international space cooperation.
ISU will play a pivotal role in helping to launch SU in the following ways:
- ISU has been given a contract to support the design, management and operations of the first 2009 GSP of the SU;
- ISU will help support the design of the Interdisciplinary, intercultural, and international curriculum through the implementation of two Curriculum Planning Meetings;
- ISU will support the student selection process;
- The 2009 session of SU will be “piggybacked” on the 2009 GSP of ISU, which is being hosted at NASA Ames Research Park in Mountain View, California.
What role will NASA Ames play?
Singularity University will be based on the NASA Ames Campus on a permanent basis and will be offering a 10-week graduate studies program as well as 9-day executive programs.
Singularity University has entered into a lease agreement with NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., to house its facilities in the NASA Research Park. NASA Ames Center Director S. Pete Worden hosted SU’s Founders Conference on Sept. 20, 2008 at NASA Ames.
On NASA’s behalf he and other Ames personnel provided input to SU’s founders and encouraged scientific and technical discussions. “The NASA Ames campus has a proud history of supporting ground-breaking innovation, and Singularity University fits into that tradition,” said Worden. “We’re proud to help launch this unique graduate university program and are looking forward to the new ideas, technologies and social applications that result.”
Note: Neither Worden nor any other NASA employee is otherwise engaged in the University’s operation nor do any NASA Ames employees have personal or financial interests in Singularity University. As with other educational institutions, NASA employees may support educational activities of SU through lectures, discussions and interactions with students and staff. NASA employees may also attend SU as students.
Which corporations are partnering with SU? Why are they participating?
Thusfar, Google, ePlanet Ventures, and Autodesk are Founding Corporate Partners. The University is in discussions with several other major companies that are interested in either sending students/executives or having access to the research that comes out of the program.
PROGRAMS, FACULTY & ACADEMICS
How much will it cost for a student to attend?
Tuition for the Executive Programs (US$ 15,000 for the 9-day program) are approximate and no scholarships are available at this time.
Tuition for the 9 week GSP is US$ 25,000 (this includes all housing, food and tuition, but does not cover any travel to/from the program). A limited number of partial and full scholarships are available. We encourage our students to use their contacts and ingenuity to raise funds from donors and corporate sponsors to cover a portion of their tuition.
Who are the faculty and how are they selected?
A world-class faculty has been assembled in the months ahead of the start of the first SU session. The Board of Trustees and the Curriculum Advisory Board will be making a series of announcements of the Track Chairs of SU. A significant number of faculty members will be selected from the San Francisco Bay Area out of industry and academia, representing world-class universities and the entrepreneurship of Silicon Valley and the Bay Area’s biotechnology research.
What type of students are you looking for?
SU is looking to search the globe and assemble the best and brightest postgraduate students and young professionals (tomorrow’s leadership) who are interested in biotechnology, nanotechnology, Artificial Intelligence, info, and related technologies. Specifically:
- We are looking for students with expertise in one of the 10 track areas, but with a passion to learn about the other tracks.
- We are looking for proven leaders and entrepreneurs. We are looking for the next generation of CEOs, University Deans/Presidents and Government leaders.
- We are looking for internationalists: people who are bilingual or multilingual with a strong command of English (the language used to teach SU courses) and people who have traveled widely.
- We are looking for people interested in understanding and addressing the world’s grand challenges
What are the academic objectives of SU?
- Assemble: To search the globe and assemble the best and brightest postgraduate students and young professionals (tomorrow’s leadership) who are interested in the bio, nano, AI, info, and related technologies.
- Teach: To present and teach cutting-edge research and projected developments in bio, nano, info, AI, and related technologies, with an emphasis on the interdisciplinary interactions between these fields.
- Focus on Humanity: To understand how these exponentially growing technologies can best be used to address Humanity’s greatest challenges; and to monitor and evaluate the legal, policy, economic, ethical and social implications of these technologies and their interactions with society.
- Network: To build and maintain a global network of the alumni and faculty of SU to enable them to remain connected and collaborate more efficiently to advance the University’s goals.
- Spin out: To promote these advances through the creation of new businesses, new research directions in academia, and new collaborations.
- Communicate: To communicate the critical effects, and potential risks and benefits of these fields to the public.
How is SU different from existing universities?
SU recognizes that there are numerous world-class institutions that are the domain experts in teaching and conducting research in the individual fields of nanotechnology, AI, genomics, etc. This is not the goal of SU. Instead, SU seeks to develop and operate a program that is complementary to existing academia. SU’s programs focus on the interdisciplinary and international aspects, with a focus towards networking future world leaders and addressing the world’s grand challenges.
What is the purpose and scope of the Graduate Studies Program (GSP) program?
The Graduate Studies Program (10-week GSP) is for top graduate and postgraduate students worldwide to learn about the various exponentially growing cross-disciplinary technologies (bio, nano, info, AI, and other areas). The first year (2009) was limited to 40 students; subsequent years will have a program size of upwards of 120 students.
What is the purpose, size and scope of the 10-day Mid-Level program?
The 10-day executive program (starts Fall 2009) is for mid-level managers/leaders to better understand the convergence happening in various cross-disciplinary technologies and how this may affect their planning and day-to-day operations. Program size will be approximately 40. Frequency is approximately 8 times per year.
Will SU be conducting research?
The GSP and Executive Programs will not conduct traditional research. However, the GSP program will organize detailed student Team Projects that will allow the student body and faculty to look at how to use exponentially growing technologies to solve some of the world’s grand challenges. One could imagine, for example, that issues such as global poverty, hunger, and climate crisis could be studied from an interdisciplinary standpoint where the power of artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, genomics, and other key technologies are brought to bear in a cooperative fashion to seek solutions.